Grocery Store Staff Fail To Promptly Clear Spill

Case Overview

This case involves an elderly man with poor vision who was seriously injured from a fall in a grocery store. A group of rowdy children had dropped a gallon of milk and maintenance employees had been made aware of the spill, however no one had come to clean the aisle. The elderly man was walking through the dairy section and could not see the spill because the floor tile was white. The elderly man slipped and fell, seriously injuring his back and head.

Questions to the Retail Store expert and their responses

Please describe your background in supermarket / grocery store management.

I have 35+ years in the grocery retail industry and have managed 4 supermarkets.

Do you have experience setting policies to address issues pertaining to spills and how quickly they must be cleaned up?

I have set policy to ensure a safe environment for shopping in a retail supermarket.

Should additional staff be tasked with monitoring this area of the store for safety and in order to avoid an incident like this?

All potential safety areas in a supermarket need routine maintenance. Part of the training policy should be to have someone from the department check those areas on a regular basis. Also, it is the manager on duty's responsibility to periodically check the entire store for potential safety hazards. All employees should be trained to recognize an area that could be a safety hazard. I have attended training seminars and also provided them for my employees.

About the expert

This expert holds a BS in management and marketing from Cornell University where he completed the food executive program. He is a board member of the Eat to Live Food Cooperative and a mentor in the SCORE Counselors to America's Small Business program. This expert previously owned and operated individual grocery stores. He also managed a small chain consisting of four supermarkets and employing over 200 people. Currently, this expert is a highly regarded consultant to the supermarket industry.